Saunders, Lima Use New Looks to Reach 170 Finals at Bellator 53

Ben
Saunders used his grappling to get to the finals at Bellator 53. |
Photo: Keith Mills

In the past, Ben
Saunders struggled when put on his back. Not content to be
known for his vicious knees and striking, Saunders put on a
dominant display of grappling en route to a third-round submission
win over Luis "Sapo"
Santos in the main event of
Bellator 53 at Buffalo Run Casino in Miami, Okla., advancing to
the finals of the promotion's Season 5 welterweight tournament.

Santos immediately wanted "Killa B" on the mat, closing the
distance and putting the spindly UFC veteran against the cage.
However, Santos was clearly unaware of what he was getting himself
into: the minute they ended up on the floor, Saunders went to
rubber guard, to mission control, to a backwards triangle. This
development was the cornerstone of the first 10 minutes.

K.
Mills

Saunders tapped out Santos.

In both rounds one and two, Santos, who defeated Dan Hornbuckle in
September to reach the semis, spent the majority of the fight on
top, yet was completely frozen by Saunders' grappling. When he
freed his head from the triangle attempt, he would end up in an
omoplata, and Saunders' incredibly length and reach allowed him to
hold the Brazilian in place while landing legitimately punishing
straight punches from his back.

After Saunders managed to completely dominate him from his back for
10 minutes, the Belem, Brazil-born, Deerfield Beach, Fla.-based
Santos rolled for a leglock to start the third. Saunders used the
opportunity to take top position, where he locked up a keylock from
half guard.

Though one would certainly not expect a BJJ black belt to tap to a
keylock from half guard, Saunders managed to brutally torque
Santos' elbow by using his freakish size and leverage, illiciting
the tap at 1:45 of the third round.

"I told people before I didn't know what the gameplan was gonna
be," Saunders smirked post-fight. "But, we did it everywhere, and
spent a lot of time on the ground."

Saunders, now 12-3-2, has now won four fights in the last 12
months, with all of them by way of stoppage. The well-traveled
Santos falls to 50-7-1 with the loss.

Not unlike Saunders, hot welterweight prospect Douglas
Lima wasn't content to be known as a grappler, and so he turned
in a scintillating knockout over heavy-hitting Cleveland native
Chris
Lozano to punch his ticket to the Bellator Season 5
welterweight tournament final.

K.
Mills

Lima wasted Lozano.

Just as was the case in his September quarterfinal with Steve Carl,
Lima was rocked early by his foe, and yet, it seemed to be exactly
the wake-up call that the 23-year-old Atlanta-based Brazilian
needed.

A right hook from Lozano, who bested Brent
Weedman in a thrilling September quarterfinal, buckled Lima for
a second, but the former Maximum Fighting Championship welterweight
champion instantly responded with strikes of his own. From there,
Lima established his jab and lead left hook, which had Lozano's
mouth and nose streaming blood, and his eyes swollen by the end of
the first round.

In round two, Lima continued his attack with low kicks and lefts.
Just over halfway through the round, Lima missed with a left hook,
but a rocket of a right hand was straight behind it. The crisp
cross laid waste to Lozano instantly, who dropped to the mat in a
heap, unconscious, at 3:14 of the second frame.

The win, the eighth straight for Lima, move his career mark to
20-4, while the 29-year-old Lozano tastes defeat for the second
time, falling to 9-2.

"The man looks good. His jiu-jitsu is on point. I'm happy to take a
challenge like that," Lima said greeting his future opponent
Saunders in the cage after his main event victory. Saunders and
Lima will meet in the tournament finale at Bellator 56 on Nov. 12
at Casino Rama in Rama, Ontario, Canada.

Bellator Season 5 heavyweight tournament semifinalist Mike Hayes
might have defeated Neil Grove a
week ago, but a fractured orbital bone has him under a 60-day
suspension, and has cast significant doubt on whether or not he
will be able to continue in the tournament to take on Bulgarian
Blagoi
Ivanov at Bellator 56 on Oct. 29.

If Hayes cannot be cleared by an opthamologist by then, his spot
will now go to previously scheduled tournament entrant Thiago
Santos, who easily put away Detroit's Josh Burns by
submission in the first round of their tournament reserve bout.

K.
Mills

Santos stopped Burns in round one.

Santos was scheduled to meet the aforementioned Ivanov in last
week's tournament quarterfinal at Bellator 52, but had his
stateside debut postponed due to visa issues. Following Hayes'
touch-and-go situation, Santos was invited back to the Bellator
cage a week later than expected to fight for a potential chance to
get back into the tournament.

Burns had nothing to offer, as Santos easily got him to the ground
90 seconds into the bout, and Burns was immediately exhausted.
After inexplicably reaching behind himself to defend Santos'
punches, the Brazilian rear-naked choked him with no hooks in at
2:23 of the first round.

The once-beaten Santos will now meet Blagoi
Ivanov if Mike Hayes is
unable to have his right orbital bone injury cleared in time to
compete on Oct. 29 in Kansas City, Kan.

K.
Mills

Mann caught Foster with a triangle.

In a Season 6 featherweight tournament qualifier, Las Vegas-based
Briton Ronnie Mann
dedicated his bout against Kenny
Foster to his recently deceased trainer Shawn
Tompkins, but opted to make his tribute via submission.

Mann did show off his striking early, but his kick-heavy offense
was countered by the tough wrestling of Ithaca, N.Y.'s Foster.
After Foster's first takedown, Mann sought a triangle, but was
unsuccessful. However, after a second takedown, Mann deftly locked
up a tighter triangle, underhooked Foster's leg and left him
helpless to do anything but tap out at 3:51 of the first round.

Now 20-4-1 with the victory, the win was the 24-year-old Mann's
first win since falling to Summer Series featherweight tournament
winner Pat Curran in
July.

Mann is now the first fighter officially qualified for Bellator's
forthcoming featherweight tournament in Season 6, tentatively
scheduled to begin in early 2012.